Apparatus for manufacturing heat-insulating linings or coverings.



A. (1. BROWN. I APPARATUS FOR MANUPAGTURING HEAT INSULATING LININGS 0R GOVERINGS.

APPLICATION FILED AIIQ. 9, 1909.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

umbo a a Norma:

coverings, a

- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED G. BROWN, OI WINONA, IIINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO UNION FIBRE COMPANY, OF WINONA, MINNESOTA, A CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING HEAT-INSULATING LININGS OR COVERINGS.

Specification 0! Letters I'atent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

Application filed August a, 1909.. Serial No. 512,030.

To all whom it may concemf Be it knownthat I, ALFRED G. BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Winona, in the county of Winona and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Manufacturing Heat-Insulating Linings or Coverings; and I do hereby" declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the aecompan ing'drawingaformingla part of this spec' cation, and to the figures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to apparatus for manufacturin heat insulating linings or particularly linings such as are made use of in refrigerator or cold storage cars and buildings, the objects of the invention being to provide a means whereb not only may an insulating material of iii product will bemade uniform in quality, susceptible of being handled without injury,

and not liable to deteriorate by decay nor disintegrate from shocks and vibration.

A further object of the invention is to reduce the cost of production,-thereby giving to the public a commercial roduct at a cost supported is readily understood.

which will permit 'a genera use of thematerial wherever heat insulation is necessary or desired. a i

In'the accom anvin drawings-1 re 1 is a longitudin l secti onal' view thrc ii i gh a machine for carrying the present invention into practice, the, arts being shown in outline and more or ess diagrammatically, in-' asmuch as the means whereby the parts are ig'.'2 is a diagrammatic view illustrative of the shape of the teeth on the disintegrating and transferring rollers and cylinders. Fig. 3'

is a similar view illustrative of the shape of the teeth on one'of the rollers to be hereinafter referred to.

Like letters of reference in the several figuresindicate the same parts.

additions or adulteratiomliiiy a The insulating material isfibrous and is com d of flax fiber preferablywithout substances not found the x plant itself. In the preparation ofthe fiber preliminary 'to the treatment in accordance wlth the pres- "ent invention, the flax straw or plantis- "treated in a manner to eliminate more or less I completely the vegetable gum "which gher efliciency be produced, but the additions of causes the adhesion between the fibers and between the fibers and woody portions or sheaves. The treatment is preferably a known chemical treatment in a digester in the presence of heat, followed by washing and drying. w The degummed roduct, by which is included a product i i'om which a substantial proportion of the gum has been removed, or from which a suflicient quantity of the vegetable gum has been removed to permit of the separation of the fibers, is then: subjected to the action of mechanical appliances which will separate or disintegrate, distribute, and thoroughly *comm'ingle the fibers without combin the same, the process in this respect. fiering; from the usual hacklineg process in which the fibers are straighten out or combed and the long and short fibers separated from each other. This disintegration of the fiber reduces it to a flocculent condition, in which condition the fibers are susceptible of felting to a sufiicient degree to form a loose thick blanket in which a large part of the cellular and woody material will be entangled and serve to give body and in sulating qualities to the material. The flocculent fiber is formed into the felt or blanket in a dry state by air suction acting through cooperating foraminous cylinders andisthen led off through pressure rollers ready for the application of protecting coverings of paper.

In the machine illustrated in the drawings, the 'de ed straw is distributed by hand or suitable mechanical means on a feed belt A by which it is carried to feed rollers B. In'front of the feed rollers and in position totake the fiber therefrom is a cylinder C having forwardly projecting teeth (such as 0 shown in Fig. 2) and rotating at a. high surface speed as compared with that of the feeding rolls. To prevent the fiber leaving the cylinder immediately above the feed rolls and to hold the same until taken by the cylinder, a somewhat smaller, roller D is located immediately above the feed rolls and the surface of this roller D is rovided with radial V-shaped tion of rotation of the cylinder.

At the topfiof the preliminary cylinder G a pair ofro E E are located in 'tion for their-forwardly aimed eat .2

i teeth (1 as s own in Fi 3, Roll D has a Surface speed less than t e feed rolls and its direction of rotation is oppositeto the direc- I to act on the fiber carried by the cylinder,

said rollers E-E' being rotated in a direction tending to move the fiber reversely onthe cylinder but as they rotate with a much slower surface speed, the fiber will not be transferred to them but will be disintegrated and torn apart by them.

1 higher speed than the cylinder C and at a lower speed than the cylinder F The transer roller is also provided with forwardly directed teeth (Fig. 2) and is rotated in a direction whereby its surface will move in the same direction as the surfaces of the cylinders. i

The cylinder F rotates at a very high rate of sgeed thus, as compared with the cylinder which may hate a diameter of nineteen inches and a speed of rotation of one hundred revolutions per minute, it

would be thirty inches in diameter and have a speed of rotation approximately two hundred and eighty per minute. .Between the point where the partiall disintegrated fiber is delivered to the cylin er F, and the point where the fiber is removed from said cylinder, as will be presently described, it is subjected to the action of a series of rolls all of whi' h have forwardly directed teeth (Fig. 2) and some of which rotate in one direction and some in the other. As illustrated, the rolls HH, H ,-H*- all rotate in the same direction and their surfaces in proximity to the cylinder move reversely to the movement of said cylinder surface but at a much slower speed. Each of said rollers is conveniently made six inches in diameter and rotate at approximately thirty revolutions per minute. Between the rollers H-I-I, H H-, HH intermediate rollers I, I, I are arranged and rotate in the P speed than the speed ofthe rollers H, etc., but a much lower surface speed than the surface speed of the cylinder F. These vintermediate rollers I, etc., are preferably of somewhat smaller diameter than the rollers H, and operate to clean the said rollers H, ,etc., of any adherent fiber and'return the same to the cylinder F. In addition, they serve; to'still .further disintegrate the fiber, distribute the same and reduce it to a flocculent condition.

The rollers H and I are distributed over .the upper circumference of the cylinder and the fiber is removed'from the cylinder by a high speed wiper or brush K having radial wiper arms is working in proximity to the osite direction with a higher surface' surface of the cylinder immediately below the series of rollers hereinbefore described. To revent the entry of fiber into the arms of t e brush or wiper the 5 aces between said arms are bridged by iaphragms is which form flat faces between the projecting ends of the wipers 6 and force the fiber to follow around the periphery of the wiper. This brush or wiper K is mounted to work in a casing L with the inner face of which the ends of the wipers move in close proximityand said casing at the side opposite the cylinder F opens into a tangentially arranged and flaring duct M through which duct the fiber will be discharged. To provide a sufficient means for carrying the fiberthrough the duct and depositing the same the said duct is put into communication with a suction box and a grated air inlet opening N is' provided in the bottom of the casing immediately below the brush. The gratings or slats n in this opening are arranged in an inclined position so as to prevent the exit of fiber and at the same time permit of the free entry of air which, under atmospheric ressure, will carry the fiber along an ro- Ject the same through the discharge uct. The discharge duct terminates in top and bottom casing M-M'-, with which the suction or exhaust chamber 0 communicates through openings 0 and in these casings two foraminous cylinders E-E' are journaled. The exhaust takes place through the cylinders themselves, the air being drawn from the duct through the foraminous cylinder walls and thence into the exhaust chamber.

The cylinders run in proximity to each other and the entrance of air around them is prevented by barriers or end walls m in the casings.

Fiber discharged from the cylinder F by the brush and carried thence by the air pressure through the duct will be deposited on the foraminous surfaces of the cylinders and as said cylinders are rotated in opposite directions toward each other, the fiber deposited on the two cylinders will be brought together and pressed into a single sheet or blanket at the point where it passes between the cylinders. To prevent'any continued' adhesion of the fiber'to the cylinders internal barriers or segmental air shields Q extend from the proximate points of the cylinders on their inner sides forwardly and outwardly to a point opposite the ends of the casing. Throughout these portions of the cylinders protected by the internal shields there is no inward movement of air and the fiber is free to leave the cylinders. As the fiber passes from the cylinders in the form of a blanket or sheet it is led through between guide rollers R'R, and S, S said rollers, however, being preferably simply loose 'uide rollers rotated only by contact with t e moving blanket or sheet of j fiber after leaving the cylinders and between fiber. To support the blanket or sheet of the pairs of rollers a guide plate T is provided over which the blanket or sheet is pushed by the rotation of the foraminous' 7 cylinders themselves.

blanket or sheet delivered froln'the foraminous cylinder. By providing a pair of foraminous cylinders rotating in opposite di rections with internal suction not only is thefiber felted'more effectually, but each surface only accumulates a portion of the fiber necessary forthe full thickness of the blanket or sheet, and, consequently, but a small area of the surface of the cylinders is necessarily exposed for the accumulation of' fiber. The result of this is that a uniform product is secured and there is little or'no tendency of the fiber to bank up or accumulate at the entrant angle between the cylinders.

a felt of uniform thickness and insulating Obviously, the rollers, cylinders, brush,

etc., may be madeof any desired length, and this is especially important, inasmuch as material of the character herein contemplated must, for some uses, be made .very wide. The large number of toothed rollers acting successively on the fiber in conjunction with the toothedcylinders not only reduces the fiber to a uniform flocculent condition, but distributes it uniformly and insures qualities.

It will be noted that the fiber is not separated into grades, but all portions are acted upon uniformly with a VIBWlO preserving the body and substance of the flax plant in such manner that the whole may be combined in a. sheet or blanket for insulatingpurposes In Fig. lof the accompanying drawings, the direction in which the several cylinders and rolls rotate is indicated by appropriate curved arrows and the diameter and speed of rotation per minute is indicated in order that the relative movement of the parts may be, more readily understood without the urecessity of reading the specification.

coverings w ich embodies means for disin-' Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

I 1. An :1 amtus for making insulating tegrating degummed and dried flax straw and forming the same into a flocculent material, means for projectingsaid material into the air, a pair of foramlnous rotary drums against which the material is projected and between which it is discharged, air suction apparatus in communication with the interior a of the drums whereby the material is held thereon in loose sheets which are fed toward each other and united by the rotation of the drums, segmental guards within the drums for. relieving suction on the combined sheets at the point of discharge from the drums,

to form a covering.

2. In apparatus for the manufacture of and means for pressing the combined sheets insulating covering, the combination with a preliminary cylinder having forwardly projectingteeth, feeding-in rolls for delivering strawto said cylinder, disintegrating rolls I cooperating with said cylinder and having a surface movemnt reverse to that of the cylinder, a cylinder having forwardly projecting teeth, a transfer roll for transferrin the partially disintegrating fiber from 51c preliminary to the main cylinder a plurality of rolls cooperating with the main cylinder and having forwardly pro: jecting teeth, a brush for removing the fiber from the main cylinder, a casing surrounding said'brush, a discharge duct with which the casing communicates, a pair'of foraminous cylinders through-which the air from said duct is discharged and on which the fiber is arrested, means whereby air suction through the cylinders may be maintained,

'ajhd guide rolls through which the deposited 0 fiber is conducted from the foraminous cylinders,

ing coverings from flax straw, the combinaan apparatus for forming insulatv tion with means for disintegrating and making the straw into flocculent material embodying the fiber and woody portions, said means embodying a cylinder having forwardly projecting teeth, of a rotary brush having wiping arms moving in a path in proximity .to the cylinder, diaphragms bridging the spaces between said arms, a casing in which the brush s mounted having a grated airentrance opening at the bottom,

a discharge duct communicating with said casing and a pair of 'foraminous cylinders interposed in and bridging the discharge openings of said duct, with means whereby fiber deposited on said cylinders may be conducted away from the same in the form of-a continuous sheet.

4. In apparatus for forming. insulating coverings of fibrous'material, the combination with the preliminary and main cylinders having forwardly projecting teeth, rolls cooperating with said cylinders and having forwardly projecting teeth butjrotatingin'a direction whereby the proximate surfaces of the cylinders and rolls move in opposite di-' rections, a transfer roll for transferring the through whlch the fiber is discharged from said casing, a foraminous cylinder bridging the outlet of said duct, a suction box communicating with the foraminous cylinder and an internal ard lying in proximity to the periphery 0 said cylinder for relieving I the air pressure at the point where the fiber is discharged from the cylinder.

5. In a machine for formin insulating coverings of fibrous material, t e combina- I tion with the preliminary and main toothed cylinders, rolls cooperating with said cylins ders for reducing the fiberto a flocculent condition, a rotary brush for discharging the fiber from the maincylinder, a casing in which said brush is mounted having a rated air inlet opening at the bottom, an a aring discharge duct with which said opening communicates, of casings formin c0ntinuations of the walls of said duct, oraminous cylinders mounted in said casings and adapted to rotate in opposite directions toward each other, a suctlonchamber communicating with said foraminous cylinders and segmental guards located within the cylinders and extending forwardly from the point where their peripheries are in proximity, whereby the entrance of air on the discharge side of the cylinders is prevented.

- ALFRED G. BROWN. Witnesses:

ANDREW G. SwEAzE'Y,

F. C. WAGENER; 

